


Awkward isn't always bad

by Moonlightflower



Series: The Origins of the Piston Peak Air Attack team [5]
Category: Cars (Movies), Planes (Movies)
Genre: Blade being an idiot, First Meetings, Gen, My lovely quadruple ship again XD, Team Dynamics, growing into your job, minor character injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-08-20 06:29:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20223334
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlightflower/pseuds/Moonlightflower
Summary: Dipper, Dynamite and Patch leave the not-so-exciting academylife behind them to finally join the Piston Peak Air Attack team. The arrival of the chaos trio makes for a lot of chaos, more or less awkward situations and a lot of fun for everybody involved. Until duty calls them into the field, that is.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I AM SO SORRY! This took me like forever... I hit a major case of writers block and I jsut couldn't find a way around it... I tried every trcik I knew and nothing helped. But now it's finally, finally over and I finsihed this. 
> 
> I hope you all like it and I'm really sorry for the delay... At least this one's a little longer, so that makes up for it a little?
> 
> Enjoy :)

“Run!”

Dynamite sped off, the word almost prompting an instinctive reaction from her at this point. And it was a good thing too.

“Get back here!”

“Patch come on!”

She quickly shoved her friend around a corner where Dipper was already waiting on the runway right next to the academy’s exit.

“Go, go, go!”

She couldn’t keep the laugh out of her voice as Dipper fired up her engine and sped down the runway while she and Patch hurried to get to the gate.

“Get back here, I swear, I’ll take back your certifications!”

“You’ll have to get them from us first!”

Patch’s shout was nearly incomprehensible through her giggling as they sped through the gate. Dynamite couldn’t help it and risked one last glance over her shoulder where their joint supervisor was racing after them, expression beyond furious even though it was hard to tell through all the glue and the feathers.

“YOUR NEW CHIEF WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!”

All three burst out laughing at that. It was graduation day, the one day where they knew with dead certainty that even the strictest chief wouldn’t be able to punish them for a little prank. After all, they had just escaped a year of grueling academy life and unlike personal training on a base with a team, that kind of training wasn’t nearly as much fun.

“FREEDOM!”

Dipper’s voice boomed through the air above them and Dynamite and Patch joined her in her cheering.

“Finally!”

“So, you guys ready to finally be out there?”

“Heck yeah! I can’t wait to finally get out in the field. And to meet the team! Did you guys hear what was in the news lately?”

“You mean that their second in command got transferred over to be part of the new Elite Fire Guard? The one that you and every other air tanker were gushing over nonstop?”

Dynamite grinned.

“No, I think I never heard the tale…”

“Alright, so I’m making a big deal out of this but still! We’re going to the team that trained an Elite! Maybe we’ll even be Elites ourselves one day! It’s-”

“Awesome, yes we get it! You’re head over heels for the place.”

“Hey! I just think it’s a great opportunity.”

Patch threw a mischievous grin at Dynamite, the car returning a smirk as both of them readied their engines.

“If you’re so hot on getting there then maybe you should hurry. Because we’re currently on our best way to being late.”

And on cue, the girls sped off, Dipper’s squeal echoing through the air above them as the plane thundered over their heads in a hurry.

“Chrysler, it’s really fun to tease her.”

“Should we tell her they don’t expect us until tomorrow?”

“Nah. Just imagine their faces when we burst in there a day early. Not to mention Dipper’s!”

“You’re right. That one’s too good to throw away.”

And so the two did their best to keep up with the over-eager plane above them, twin smirks quickly turning into excited smiles. They were certified and had managed to get stationed together. And Dipper was right, the station _was_ famous. So all in all, they had every reason to be excited, elated even.

_I can’t wait to get there._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here is the next chapter. Our three girls get to Piston Piston Peak.
> 
> Enjoy :)

She was well aware that she was way too excited about this but she wouldn’t trade the way she was feeling for anything in the world. She had seldom felt so truly happy in her life. When she had left her home in Anchorage behind to follow her dream she had left everything for the unknown. She would never have dared to dream it would be this amazing. She’d found two of the best friends she could think of and was on her way to fulfill her dream. The fact that they’d gotten in at Piston Peak was only the cherry on the top. Even the weather was great, everything looked like this would be a perfect day. _Even the prank went perfectly._ She couldn’t suppress a small chuckle at that. They had planned how they would make their grand exit for the better part of the year and quickly had chosen their pray. In their defense, their instructor had had it coming with the way he had straight out forbidden any form of laughter in his class. _I mean sure, it’s a serious job but geez, live a little!_

But that no longer mattered. She watched the landscape beneath her slowly change into the familiar grounds of the Piston Peak National Park. Her parents used to take her and her siblings camping here, whenever they could afford it. It hadn’t been often but she’d made some of the best memories of her life in this park. And now she was going to protect it. The girls had readily agreed when she’d asked them if they were willing to apply to this station since they had decided they’d try to stay together and she hadn’t wanted to go behind their backs. And now that she was really here again she almost couldn’t believe it.

She had nearly forgotten how beautiful the park was and how full of life everything seemed. They passed at least thirty different birds nests and two herds of deer on their way to the Air Attack, causing a warm feeling to spread through Dippers tanks. They hadn’t even reached the place they would be living in and she was already feeling at home. Beneath her, she could hear the gasps of wonder coming from Dynamite and Patch as they took in their surroundings.

“Wow… You weren’t kidding when you told us about this place.”

“Actually, Dynamite, I think this may be the one and only time she ever underrated something. And the description you gave us was already pretty unbelievable…”

“And we’re going to be living here! Everyday! Isn’t it awesome?”

“Yes! I think I’m starting to see why you’re so excited. And look. We’re almost there! I can see the Air Attack up that mountain.”

Dipper smiled, unconsciously speeding up a little to get there even faster.

“Exactly. So let’s hurry before we’re late!”

She could hear twin giggles from beneath her but at that moment she couldn’t care less. The runway was in sight and she could see a group of people gathered at the end. _Are they waiting for us?_ Her excitement grew stronger as she forced herself to slow down to descend.

“Hey Dipper, just so you know, we-“

The rest of Dynamite’s words were lost to the booming voices of 29 people cheering just as Dipper touched down. Or rather, _until_ Dipper touched down. The moment she came to a stop on the runway, the entire group stared at her in silence.

“Sorry we’re late, the other two are almost here as well, I hope you didn’t wait too long.”

She only received blank stares at that, slowly giving her the feeling that something was amiss.

“Um, can we help you?”

_What?_ Before she could answer, Dynamite came speeding, a slightly guilty expression on her face as the car regarded the scene before her. The sinking feeling in Dipper’s tanks intensified, coupled with mortification. _Tell me you didn’t…_

“Er, yeah, hi, sorry about that… We kinda-“

Before she could finish, a female air tanker started laughing, nudging the plane beside her and- _Oh no, that’s Fireflight… She’s here. And that means…_

“Well, looks like you found something to replace my story of arrival. Finally!”

The plane beside her burst out laughing, the team joining in and Dipper just wanted to vanish into the ground.

“Never seen anybody arriving a day early. On their graduation day nonetheless. Looks like you got yourself an eager addition, Jurigan.”

“Speak for yourself, Tamati. Two of them fall under your jurisdiction.”

By now, Patch had reached them as well, all three of the girls sporting a pretty impressive blush. _I’m.Going.To.Kill.You._ Dynamite’s eyes were a little pleading as if she was saying that it wasn’t so bad but Dipper had just understood why the team had been gathered on the runway and just what they had interrupted.

“Um, yes, I’m sorry for interrupting your party. I promise, we really didn’t mean to. Er, congratulations on getting into the Elite Fire Guard by the way. It’s an honor to meet you…”

For a moment, Fireflight looked surprised before a smile spread over her face and she rushed forward, pulling Dipper into the group with her wings.

“Aww, aren’t you adorable… Thank you. And now quit just standing there. You’re already here, you might as well join the party. The three of you would have gotten one tomorrow anyway. These guys here rarely miss a chance to have fun.”

She sounded genuine, the other air tankers immediately making room for her among them, still laughing a little.

“And don’t worry about being here a day early. I fled right after I first came here. Not much better, right?”

Dipper shook her head, a little overwhelmed with the situation as the team seemed to just readily accept them in their midst without batting an eye. She distantly noticed Dynamite and Patch being whisked off by a pretty large group that looked like they were the resident Hotshots and for a moment she wondered if maybe she was actually dreaming and would wake up any minute to find that she still had this entire day ahead of her. She wasn’t even sure why this bothered her so much. Sure, it had been awkward as hell but apart from that it really wasn’t that big of a deal. _Still…_ Fireflight was sort of her hero and now that she had gotten to actually meet her it was under such embarrassing circumstances.

“Hey, cheer up. Trust me, much more embarrassing stuff has happened on this base. See that forklift over there? That’s Maru, our mechanic. And that helicopter next to him? His name’s Blade. He’s the new second in command. When he was new he wouldn’t talk to any of us outside of missions. And then Maru went ahead and sprayed him with freezing water for it. I never saw our chief chew anybody out like that… And you see those four over there? The Car is Jurigan, the captain of our Hotshots and Smokejumpers, the skid-steer claws are Licroy and Burrell and the raketool digger is Linnt. Those four had more than one argument that accidentally got pretty public, both when Licroy, Burrell and Linnt tried to court Jurigan and after they got together. Not to mention when they finally did get together, now that was an embarrassing thing to watch. Adorable, cute and really romantic but embarrassing. So you see? Nothing to worry about, you’re perfectly fine.”

Dipper felt herself relax a little at the reassurance. It wasn’t enough to get her to relax completely but she was feeling a little calmer and just a little less mortified now.

“Oh, are we all making fun of each other? Because Windlifter over there is calling Maru the wind and I think he’s pretty drunk. Either that or he’s finally going crazy.”

Fireflight chuckled, pointing to the green helicopter at Dipper’s questioning look.

“I didn’t know Windlifter could get drunk. You sure it’s not just one of his riddles, Alair?”

“Does it matter? I mean, he called Maru the _wind_. Loud and rambunctious Maru. I thought the wind was supposed to be quiet!”

Another plane interjected, effectively silencing Fireflight and Alair before directing his focus onto Dipper.

“So, you’re the new one. Good to see we’re finally getting some aerial support. Usually, we only have grounders applying here for some reason. I’m Tobulouse, you already know Fireflight, that partially drunk guy over here is Alair and the white guy with the red stripes on his tailfin is our chief, Tamati.”

“Hey, don’t forget about me…”

“You’re a SEAT Melro, you don’t count.”

Dipper automatically joined in when the group started laughing at the smaller plane’s indignant expression.

“Hey, don’t be mad. I didn’t mention Cabbie either.”

He motioned towards a huge plane off to the side by explanation which seemed to pacify Melro a little bit.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Air tankers are exclusive. So, who’s your new exclusive teammate?”

“I’m Lea, Lea Levine. But everybody calls me Dipper. Well, Lil’Dipper officially, but just Dipper is fine, so, yeah, just call me whatever of those you think fits best and-“

“Whoa, calm down. No need to stress out. Dipper, okay?”

She nodded, taking a deep breath and finally feeling herself relax. _It’s alright. Everything’s fine. I’m here. _She felt some of her excitement from before return and once it had started, she couldn’t stop the happiness from coursing through her at the prospect of finally, really being here.

“There you go, smile. It’s a party, go and have fun.”

“Oh and, just so you know what you’re celebrating, it’s Fireflight’s promotion and Blade being named second in command. And now, your guys’ arrival of course. Welcome to the team.”

Tobulouse gave her a brilliant smile, erasing any last undercurrent worry that had still been there and allowing her to just enjoy the moment. _He seems nice. They all kinda do._

“Hey, are you guys being nice to her? Wouldn’t want a repeat of Fireflight after all, would we now.”

Their chief joined the conversation, friendly smile thrown towards Dipper as he threw a wing over Fireflight’s tail and drew her in close. Dipper was getting the impression that the entire team was pretty tactile. If Maru leaning on Blade, Cabbie supporting a slightly unsteady Windlifter by letting him lean on his side and the various groups of hotshots that were leaning onto each other were anything to go by. She wasn’t that tactile herself, at least not with strangers, but if she got to know them well enough then maybe she could adapt to that. _After all, a team is supposed to become a little like a family. And they’re going to be the only family I have left now that Maker and Giver are so far away. So I might as well share in the affection._

“Hey. We’re all already halfway drunk and you don’t even have a drink yet. That won’t do at all. Here, have a can of oil.”

Dipper reflexively caught the can being thrown her way, eying it a little suspiciously before shrugging and taking a sip. She’d never been one to drink much but on this special occasion, she felt like it would be okay to let loose. _Besides. Wasn’t that exactly what we wanted this morning? To just let loose? _As she felt the alcohol hit her systems, she instantly felt a little lighter. Taking another, larger sip she returned her attention to the conversation.

“So, Fireflight, are you excited for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I mean, I’m going to the Elites! I still can’t believe it. But that also means I have to leave here. I don’t know if you know that feeling, Alair, but this is the station I trained in. I’ve never been part of another team, I’ve been here for half of my life. And now everything’s just going to be different. A good different, I hope, but still…”

“I get what you mean. When I left my home and everything I ever knew to go and get certified across the country I felt like that too. It’s definitely a good different though.”

She had to smile at that memory. It had been scary as hell at the time but she knew she would never regret it.

“So, do you guys get a lot of fires around here?”

“Eager to see some action, huh?”

“Yes, Alair. I’ve never even seen a natural wildfire up close. I’m an academyling, remember?”

“Wait, so they teach you everything out of books there?”

Tobulouse sounded genuinely troubled at that thought.

“Do you live-trainees ever not learn by doing?”

“Touché..”

“Good comeback. Good to see that there’ll be someone with dry wit to look over them. Who knows where that trio would be without her…”

Melro gave her a companionable wingbump, effectively dodging the three glares that Alair, Tobulouse and Tamati sent his way.

“You realize that you’re the one on top of the troublemaker list though, right?”

At that, Melro shot him a conspirational grin, expression overly serious as he mock-whispered.

“Ssshhh. She doesn’t have to know.”

Dipper snorted, playfully shoving Melro to the side and taking another sip of her oil. She was already starting to feel the effect. _I guess I should better stop. I’d hate to cause trouble on my first night. And I also want to remember this._

She let her eyes wander over the crowd, searching for her two friends and finding Patch deeply immersed in a heated discussion with a green forklift, probably the communications officer she’d be training with. Dynamite was amicably chatting with Jurigan, Licroy, Burrell and Linnt who were cuddling close to a small bonfire. They looked really cute like that. _I wonder what their story is?_ She was itching to ask them but this was neither the time or the place. They didn’t know each other and relationships were a very private matter to discuss. Still, she was a hopeless romantic and seeing people together, utterly content and truly happy, seeing them gaze into each other's eyes with so much love and devotion just made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside. She’d never been in a relationship herself, not for the lack of trying but so far she had just never managed to fall in love with somebody who liked her as well. For now, she was content with watching from afar and imagining what it would be like to be in that kind of situation. _Sharing body heat, cuddled close, the firelight reflecting in your eyes, looking up at the beautiful night sky, being told how much my partner loves me, sharing a kiss and just forgetting the world exists…_ If she’d had to name a dream date, that would be it. Just close companionship and sharing each other’s happiness. She couldn’t wait until she would finally get to do those kinds of things as well.

“Hey, Dipper, enjoying the party?”

She smiled down at Patch who had ended her discussion and was on her way over.

“Yeah. These people seem really nice.”

Patch nodded, humming in agreement.

“I’m glad you talked us into coming here. I think I like this place.”

That caused her smile to widen. Coming from Patch, saying that she liked a place on the first day was a huge compliment. Normally she’d take forever to evaluate a question like that, careful to cast her judgment to make sure she wouldn’t regret it later. _‘Your first judgment makes up your first impression and that in turn determines how you act from that point on. First impressions always last, remember.’_ Dipper still didn’t quite understand that logic but she respected Patch’s methods. So to hear her say she liked Piston Peak so soon was a huge deal. Patch returned her smile, redirecting her gaze to Dynamite who had evidently participated in the drinking and was currently trying to come onto an orange, yellow and black saw-car.

“Dynamite seems to like it too.”

Patch chuckled.

“Seems like it. Question is if she’s still going to like it tomorrow. Headache and embarrassment and all. I think she may have forgotten she’ll have to see these people every day now.”

Dipper had to laugh at that. She could already see a contrite and whiny Dynamite hiding inside her hangar tomorrow. _Well, at least she’ll fit right into this team embarrassment-wise. _

They watched as Dynamite tried to lean onto the saw-car, only for him to evade her and collapse from the fast movement. _Chrysler… Is everybody drunk? _ Then again, this was a farewell party so Dipper could see why. She couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must feel like to have somebody you worked with for such a long time transfer. Of course, there would be some who overdid it in their celebrating. Be it from sadness or happiness but if this wasn’t a good enough reason than she couldn’t think of a better one.

Taking the evasion as a rejection, Dynamite seemed to give up and joined the two of them on the sidelines, voice slurring a bit as she greeted them.

“Man, I love this place. I’ll probably hate it tomorrow morning, but it’s awesome!”

She was more than a little unsteady on her wheels, nearly collapsing from the momentum of trying to to get another drink. Patch snatched it away from her, putting a stern lift on Dynamite’s back and starting to guide her off to the side.

“I think it’s time for you to get to a sleepingmat young lady.”

“But I don’t wanna. Tis nice here.”

Dynamite’s voice was devolving into a nearly incomprehensible mumbling, her eyes half falling shut. Dipper silently wondered if it was from nausea or lack of energy and severely hoped for her friend that it was the latter.

“Come on, Dynamite. Let’s get you to a sleepingmat. Patch, did you ask where we’ll be staying?”

“Yes. Dynamite would technically go to the Hotshot’s station but I don’t know where exactly that is and I’m not too sure if she could make it that far. Until I’m trained in and relieve him from his duties I’ll be staying with Finx and you were supposed to get Fireflight’s hangar. Since we’re here a day early you’re getting the guest hangar tonight.

“Alright. Come on Dynamite, don’t fall asleep. We’re almost there.”

“Mind if I stay over too? I don’t want to impose on Finx by accidentally picking the wrong sleepingmat or something. And I think it would be nice to spend one last night together, like in the dorms.”

“Yeeeess! Slumberpar- party…”

Dipper and Patch just looked at each other, trying their best to keep their grins hidden while maneuvering Dynamite to the hangar, through the door and onto a sleeping mat. Dipper made a mental note to thank Tamati for his consideration when she noted that two more sleepingmats had been prepared right next to the one Dynamite was currently snuggling up in. She let herself fall down onto one, Patch slumping down beside her and sighing at the feeling of lying down after a long, wonderful day. Normally they would have talked for at least an hour but Dynamite was already half asleep, mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like a very mangled version of ‘goodnight’ before drifting off completely, and Patch had already closed her eyes, evidently as exhausted as Dipper felt.

“Night Patch”

She quietly murmured, receiving a mumbled ‘goodnight’ in return. As she allowed her eyes to fall shut, the memories of the day circled around her mind, her thoughts going back and forth between everything that had happened and just how happy it made her. A soft smile made its way onto her lips as she snuggled into her blanket and allowed herself to succumb to slumber, dreaming of the team, the park, and everything that had happened that day.

It was the best dream she’d had ever since deciding she’d join the firefighting academy.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the next chapter! The girls finally get to see some action, or rather, specifically Dynamite in this case. And you get to know my Hotshots/Jumpers a bit better ;)
> 
> Enjoy :)

Dynamite was happy. After the disaster that had been her first morning on base, she had quickly found her place within the team. Well, teams. As long as it was just the Jumpers and Hotshots it was a totally different feeling from when the aircraft were there as well. She liked the air tankers well enough, especially since Dipper was there, but being with just a group of people that were exactly like her was different. Crazy. Better. During the first few days, it had been a little difficult to tell them all apart and remember the names. After all, together with her, they were now 20 people. She had taken to getting to know her own division first, the ten Smokejumpers being enough for the beginning but since the Jumpers mostly kept working as Hotshots anyway and they all lived in the same station it wasn’t like she didn’t do things with the Hotshots as well. They were actually pretty nice, especially Blackout. Dynamite could vaguely remember that he had been the guy she’d been trying to woe in her drunken state at the party but either he had forgotten it or it didn’t matter to him because he was treating her just like everybody else. She was getting the general opinion that that was how things were on this base. Relaxed, informal, open and most importantly personal. It was a nice change of pace, especially after the strict academy life where having so much as a crush had gotten people thrown out. _Well, we did pick one of the strictest academies but it was also the best one we could afford._

During missions, everything was professional of course. Except for maybe the radio transmission coordination, that was a little chaotic at times. It was easy to get used to though, so nobody really minded all that much.

“Hey Dynamite? What do you think of Tamati’s new idea for team management?”

Their chief had proposed that they try splitting up the Jumpers and the Hotshots for a trial period and see if they were more effective when they worked on two different flanks at the same time. Objectively speaking it was a good idea but from what Dynamit had gathered, the team had been working alongside each other so long that they didn’t want to be split up now. They’d do it of course if either Jurigan or Tamati ordered them to but Jurigan didn’t seem too keen on the idea as well and Tamati genuinely wanted their opinion on the matter so she doubted the decision would be made over their heads.

“I don’t know, Ann. I mean, I haven’t been here for long so I guess for me it doesn’t really make much of a difference. But I think that Tamati is right, we might be more effective if we act in multiple places at once. I would give it a try but I’m really not the one you’ll want to be asking here. As I said, I’m technically too new to really care.”

“Aww, don’t say that. Just because you’re new doesn’t mean you can’t feel a team connection. And I know that you do, don’t try to downplay it. Besides, I’m with you on this one. I think we should at least give it a try. I think Evall wanted that too.”

The saw-car nodded, giving Dynamite an encouraging smile.

“See?”

Bria gave her a sidebump, grinning into the circle of gathered mechanisms as Jurigan raised his voice.

“Okay, so up to now Dynamite, Bria, Evall, Michgal and Ornat are for the experiment. Me, Licroy, Linnt, Burrell, Malvorie and Flurne are against it, correct?”

“Not quite, Ann and I would like to give it a shot as well.”

“Okay, Marshall and Ann. Anybody else?

Ashet and Geelt simultaneously raised their skids while Blackout lifted his saw. Drolin and Liore, on the other hand, shook their heads, Steede even going as far as to hum in displeasure.

“Alright, so we have ten in favor and nine against it. Hala? What’s your opinion?”

The raketool digger flinched a little at the sudden attention before adopting a thoughtful expression.

“I don’t know guys. On the one hand, I hate the thought of dividing the team but on the other hand, Tamati is right. This would probably help a lot. I don’t know, maybe we could come to a compromise. Try it once, see how it works and then discuss whether we want to try it for an extended amount of time.”

The circle was quiet for a while, contemplating the idea. _I think it’s a good compromise._ She kept quiet though, fully aware of the fact that this wasn’t her decision to make, even if Bria said otherwise.

“Okay, is there anybody who absolutely doesn’t want us to do that?”

Nobody spoke, prompting a relieved smile to break out on Jurigans face.

“That’s settled then. Next emergency coming up we’ll try this and see where it goes. Alright. Thanks for the discussion, everybody. Now off you go, I’m sure you’ve got stuff to do.”

That last part was somewhat the standard ending for anything resembling a speech here. Dynamite suspected it was because once you got them started, discussions could go on forever. There were just too many individuals present to completely agree and unless somebody, mostly chief or captain, put an end to it, it had the potential to become endless. _In theory at least._ When she had asked what the reason behind the phrase was nobody had really been able to give her an answer though so she suspected it was really only said because it had already become customary and nobody saw a reason why not to.

“Hey Jurigan, one question.”

“Yes, Ann?”

“If we’re divided, don’t we need our own captain? And will we drive there or will Cabbie do two runs in a row? Because that would be a little dangerous, wouldn’t it?”

“Yes, but it is also the fastest alternative and if it’s urgent that might be your best bet.”

“Uh, problem. With me, you’re eleven people. Can’t Cabbie only carry five at a time?”

At that, the group fell silent again.

“One of you could strap onto Windlifter and jump out of the straps on commando?”

“Yeah right… What’s next? Cabbie captains us from up above?”

“Actually-“

“Nope, no, not happening.”

Just as another debate was about to break loose Hala spoke up again, voice a bit timid but sure.

“Why don’t you combine it? Cabbie does two runs and during that time the last one drives to the location. The time should about add up in most places and if not just let him do a third run.”

“Okay, but what about the captain situation? I can only speak for myself here but I wouldn’t want to do that. That job’s yours, Jurigan. It would feel weird.”

The other Jumpers nodded, evidently all feeling uncomfortable at the notion of replacing their captain. _Maybe…_

“I could do it. I know I’m kinda new but in the academy, we all had to be team leaders at some point. Besides, it’s not like you guys couldn’t correct me if I made a mistake.”

That was a bold move, technically applying to captain a group that she was the newest member of and barely knew. Not to mention that she was a rookie.

“If you feel up to it, why not give it a try? The whole thing’s an experiment anyway, right Jurigan?”

Malvorie actually sounded a little excited at the thought, completely throwing Dynamite for a loop. _Wait, you’re actually agreeing to this? Woah… _Jurigan gave the assembled Jumpers a questioning look and upon receiving confirmation, nodded.

“Guess that’s settled. Congratulations Dynamite, you’ll be the captain during the next fire.”

It was in that exact moment that the speakers went off, the siren ringing through the entire base, followed by Patch’s voice.

“Fire due to multiple campfires down at the lake, moderate rate of spread, they’re on their way to merging into one.”

The familiar adrenaline that always came with an alarm rushed through her as Dynamite hurried to her station to get her parachute. She couldn’t help but smile, barely able to contain her excitement as they sped off to the main base, the Jumpers lining up to get into Cabbie while the air tankers were loading up in the background. _Let’s do this!_ She was the last one on Cabbie’s first flight, watching the opening hatch close beside her and squealing inwardly as she felt the familiar rumble of the plane taking off. The flight down to the lake was short and before she knew it, Cabbie was already proposing a landing area.

“The trees are too dense on the ground so how about I try to get you to the shallow water instead?”

Dynamite grinned. It was exactly this kind of excitement that she lived for.

As the hatch opened to give her a clear view she carefully observed the water to see if there were any visible obstacles and satisfied when she found none.

“Looks good, Cabbie. You ready guys?”

“You bet.”

For being so against the idea at first, Burell actually sounded quite excited now that they were about to jump.

“Well then, let’s go!”

And with that she drove forward, jumping off the open hatch and letting herself fall through the air for a few moments. The rush of adrenaline through her entire body was greatest just before she opened the parachute and she absolutely loved to prolong that moment as long as possible. When she heard the last one of the five exit Cabbie she let her shute unfold, instantly slowing her down and allowing a controlled descent. As long as she was in the air, the reality of the situation never quite sunk in. Only when her wheels touched the ground did her brain and core fully accept the fact that she was going into a fire. _And this time I’m the captain!_ She waited until everybody touched down before giving her first set of orders, feeling an unbelievable rush of excitement run through her when she did.

“Alright guys, let’s see if we can play these fires against each other. If we clear a line between them and make sure there’s no fuel left to burn then the fires won’t be able to merge and will only steal each other’s fuel so they can act as each other’s counterfire.”

“Sounds good. Where do you want us to start?”

“Split up in pairs of two, cover as much ground as you can. Go.”

As a car, she was only able to help push things out of the way so she opted to stay on the sidelines and observe the fire to make sure that her plan didn’t backfire. It didn’t take long for Cabbie to reappear above them, dropping off the second bunch of Jumpers who were opting to land on the beginnings of their safety line instead of the lake. At the same time, Marshall came from the other side, a little out off breath from driving so fast but ready for action as he began putting retardant on the fire close to the line to ensure it wouldn’t jump the line before it was finished.

“This is Jurigan to Dynamite, do you copy? How’s it going over there. Are you guys doing okay?”

Dynamite let her eyes roam over her crew. Evall and Ann were sawing down trees nonstop, Flurne cutting them down into transportable chunks. Bria was pushing the heavy chunks out of the way while Drolin and Burrell took the lighter ones. Malvorie, Ashet and Geelt had started digging a physical line to make sure the fires couldn’t so easily burn over. All in all, it was looking good.

“I copy. We’re fine, progress on the line is a bit slow but going good.”

“Okay, keep me updated.”

“I will.”

The radio fell silent before the chatter from the aircraft took over. At this point Dynamite was used to it so she could blend it out easily and concentrate on the task at hand. The fires were drawing closer to their line and they weren’t done yet. _Okay, so maybe progress isn’t so good…_

“Guys, we need to hurry up!”

“We’re trying!”

Ashet’s voice sounded strained, everybody else just quietly continued to work.

“Maybe we bit off a bit more than we can chew. We’re not used to working with such a small team!”

Dynamite knew for a fact that it was possible with half the numbers they currently had, she’d done it during training but they were right. Apart from her, none of them were used to coordinating the tasks according to their decreased numbers and therefore achieving the needed speed. She could feel the heat increasing a little and made her decision. _Better safe than sorry._

“Fall back!”

“What?”

“We can’t just give up now!”

Dynamite ignored the indignant expressions and tried her best to remain calm in the face of having to coordinate an evacuation.

“If you want to stay, be my guest. But the fire’s coming closer and we’re not going to be able to finish the line in time. I can’t believe I’m saying this but you’re too inexperienced! You’re not used to delegating the tasks in a small team. Now go!”

“Dynamite, everything alright?”

Jurigan sounded worried and for a moment Dynamite actually felt a little helpless as she watched the Jumpers continue to build the line.

_Damn it, I’m not cut out to be captain!_

“No Jurigan, we need to pull back but-“

She didn’t want to be the whiner who used their captain to do everything. _And what if I’m misjudging? I’m a rookie, they’ve had years of experience… _But her gut was telling her to go.

“Okay, get to the lake, that’s your safety zone. Be careful.”

“We will.”

She did her best to keep the wavering out of her voice as she watched the fire entering the ten meters mark next to their line.

“Leave it!”

For a moment she thought they would refuse her again. They all had a can-do spirit, normally she had one herself but not in this situation.

“She’s right, let’s go! I knew this was a bad idea!”

She had never been so thankful to have somebody agree to her. Apparently, Burrell was enough to convince them and they finally left whatever they were doing and followed her. And not a moment too soon. Her gut feeling had been right: Just as they cleared the forest the fire jumped the line, merging with its counterfire instead of acting like a countermeasure as she had intended. _Damn it! _The trees were too close to the water to be safe, so they all waded into the shallow regions until their mouth was barely above water.

“Dynamite, did you make it to the safety zone?”

Now Jurigan really sounded worried.

“Yes, we’re all safe and in the lake.”

“Thank Chrysler. Because I can’t reach Burrell and… Yeah.”

The skid-steer, who had heard the entire thing, instantly checked his radio, only to find that it had succumbed to the water and was broken.

“Great… Uh, can you tell him I’m alright?”

“I heard. Thank you. We’re pulling back too, meet you in a few minutes.”

Dynamite nodded, even though she knew that Jurigan couldn’t see her. She had a sinking feeling in her tanks, a little scared of what would happen when her captain got there. _I failed. And pretty spectacularly at that… I couldn’t coordinate them right so we didn’t get the line done and now the fire is gigantic. Great…_

She could hear the water splashing from nine mechanisms speeding into it but didn’t dare to look up.

“Hey. It’s alright. These things happen… Don’t beat yourself up about it.”

She knew that Ann wanted to sound reassuring but at that moment it didn’t do much good.

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that this spectacularly backfired…”

Her eyes flew up at the self-deprecating tone in Jurigan’s voice.

“I take it your operation didn’t go much better than ours?”

Dumbstruck, she slowly shook her head. _Wait, _you_ failed too?_

“Woah, don’t look so sad. You did a great job. Everybody is safe and uninjured, it’s okay. That’s more than I can say.”

He motioned over for Blackout who held his skid above the water, a small string of fluids dripping down the appendage.

“Chrysler, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. Maru’s yelling will be worse than the pain.”

The mental image involuntarily made her laugh. She hadn’t been subjected to the infamous mechanic’s wrath yet but in her short time, she had heard enough tales .

“He only does it because he worries. Like Tamati and me.”

Licroy and Linnt gave their chief twin smirks, simultaneously tackling Jurigan and pushing him underwater.

“If you’re worried about us so much then I’m sure you won’t risk any harm coming to us by fighting back, will you?”

“Oh, you’re on.”

Jurigan threw himself at the two of them with all his might, miscalculating his angle and creating a giant splash that rained down onto the twins instead. Within a blink, the splashing turned into a full-on water fight except for Blackout who kept his saw out of the water and was trying to negotiate a way to get himself picked up and flown to the garage. The rest of them would be staying in the lake until the fire was out and it was safe to leave. _If we’re here anyway, we might as well have some fun._

With a mischievous glint in her eye Dynamite threw herself at Malvorie and Ann, pushing both of them underwater and using the momentum to splash Geelt with it. Drolin used the opportunity to quickly pull her underwater from below, causing Dynamite to squeal. It almost felt as if the water was washing her worries from only moments ago away, leaving nothing but the fun as she resurfaced and tried her best to get revenge by teaming up with Hala and Liore.

Anybody not from their team would have found them crazy, splashing each other and laughing while a fire was burning only meters away but Dynamite felt right at home.

_Well, and if that means that we’re all a little crazy then I guess they’re right. After all, we’re Smokejumpers. Crazy is in the job description. _

They kept playing until the early evening when the fire had finally been reduced to a state that meant it was safe for them to leave the water. Windlifter had picked up Blackout sometime around the afternoon, leaving the remaining nineteen mechanisms to keep an eye on the fire. Around the evening Tamati had radioed and asked them if they felt up to staying overnight and monitoring the remaining hot spots until they completely went out. It left the team divided, a team of two per hot spot to stand guard while the other slept. Technically it wasn’t necessary to team up but Dynamite didn’t find it in herself to care as she sat down, eyes on the night sky and Steede lying behind her.

“Wake me up when you’re getting tired?”

Dynamite nodded, eyes trailing the constellations above her and tracing the outline of the hot spots from time to time to look for any flames. In this setting, out in the wild, under the night sky and standing guard over the remains of a fire, she felt at peace. After the events of the day it felt nice to be able to just calm down and unwind. The day’s events had been exhausting but for some reason she felt wide awake.

_All in all, the day wasn’t so bad._

Sure, she had failed pretty spectacularly as a captain but so had Jurigan. Really, the experiment in itself had been a fail. And maybe that was why she was so content. Because in the end, it hadn’t been her fault.

_And because the good outweighed the bad. _

Sighing and settling down a little more comfortably, she allowed her eyes to fall shut for a moment.

_I sincerely hope that it’ll always be like that._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anybody not confused by the names yet? And what do you think of my team within the team now that you get a little closer look?


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the last chapter of our three girls. This one's about Patch and it was definitely the hardest because she is so difficult to grasp... But I'm quite happy with how she turned out here. 
> 
> Enjoy :)

“What a day, right Patch?”

Finx used his lifts to push himself away from the communications board, slumping in on himself with an exhausted sigh.

“Yeah. Who would have thought that dividing the Hotshots and Jumpers would put all of them into so much danger?”

_Well, at least it sounded pretty dangerous from up here. _ With only the radio chatter to go from and with no real visibility of the danger zone, it had been more than frustrating to live through. As communications officers, of course, they were unable to assist or do anything about the situation besides listen and maybe give advice. _I never thought it could be so frustrating… Better get used to being unable to participate. Not that I’d want to be out there but I hate being helpless…_

“Well, I had a hunch. But it’s okay, everybody is safe. Well, almost. But Blackout’s injury was minor so I guess we can book this one as a success after all. Cheer up. If you let every remotely close call get to you you’ll eventually go crazy in here. Trust me, I’ve been there. You just have to accept that sometimes there’s nothing you can do. Even if it feels terrible at that moment you have to remember that it’s not your job to help them. Not with this.”

“I know. It’s just…”

“Not as easy as it sounds, I know. You’re gonna get there though. I have absolute faith in you.”

“Yeah. Only that next time this happens you won’t be here to calm me.”

“You did a pretty good job at that yourself Patch. As far as I remember you only started showing any signs of panic after it was over. I mean, sure, repressing panic sucks and the fallout usually isn’t pretty but for being new you did a pretty damn great job at it. I think the first time this happened to me I actually broke down from the stress.”

Finx eyes had a nostalgic look in them as he delved into his memories. Patch let him be, letting her own thoughts wander to the events of the day. True, she had somehow been able to suppress her fear at hearing Dynamite say that they were pulling back because it was getting too dangerous but that had been because she had known that somebody experienced was right beside her. But Finx wasn’t going to be here much longer. He had applied to a different station in an urban area where he and his future wife would live closer together.

“You worry too much, Patch. You’re gonna do great, trust me.”

Patch allowed herself to take a deep breath, forcing her uncertainty to a faraway corner of her mind before nodding, relaxing a little at the smile Finx was giving her.

“I tell you what. If for some reason something like this happens again while I’m still here – and with these guys, you never know – I’ll let you do the job on your own and give silent support. That way you have me there in case you really need me but you’re going to see that you don’t. Need me, I mean. I have absolute faith in you. You’re a good communications officer, even though you’re new. What you don’t know now experience and time will teach you. So stop worrying so much and just enjoy it. You’ll find that there’s nothing quite like living with this crazy bunch, it’s unlike any station I’ve ever been at. One thing’s safe to say, at least it will never get boring.”

His grin had grown softer during his speech, almost fond at the end as he looked out of the window of the tower and watched Maru treating Blackout while the planes were off to the side chatting. Blade was sitting alone on the cliff by Tamati’s hangar and Windlifter and Cabbie were taking off for a flight. Patch noticed that his gaze was almost a little sad as he regarded his team.

“I’m definitely going to miss them. Take good care of them for me, will you?”

Patch was pretty sure that it had been supposed to be a joke but Finx’ tone of voice sounded just a bit too serious for that. So she gave him an honest answer.

“I promise. I’ll do my best.”

“That’s all I can ask of you. Thank you.”

After that they stayed silent, each following their own train of thought as Finx continued to watch the team whereas Patch looked out over the park. It truly was a beautiful place and Finx was right, something about this team was special. Somehow they seemed to make everybody feel welcome. It had been a while for her since she’d truly felt at home somewhere. _But this might be home one day. Not yet, but it could be. Someday. _Deep down she knew that unless something truly horrible happened she wouldn’t leave this place. Even if she herself didn’t quite feel at home yet, Dipper and Dynamite did and everybody around her was friendly. All in all, it wasn’t the worst place to live. Far from it.

a

“Patch, come in!”

“I read you Blade.”

It was early in the morning, the sunly barely above the horizon and Blade, as usual, had gone out scouting. During those early morning scouts he rarely ever found something so to have him actually radio was a little disturbing. Patch had a bad feeling.

“There’s a Spotfire down in v6 valley. Slow rate of spread, doesn’t look too dangerous. Is the team up yet?”

Patch quickly glanced out the window, finding the base empty and the hangars still dark, including Finx’, leaving her on her own.

“Negative.”

“Okay, get them up. I’ll engage it myself until they get here. It’s not big yet but it might be if we wait until everybody is up and ready.”

“Wait, Blade, that’s against the-“

“I’ll be fine Patch. And no, it isn’t. I’m allowed to act on my own when the conditions don’t necessarily require backup immediately and they are on their way to come and assist me.”

“Aren’t you supposed to always be at least two?”

“Not when the backup is already on the way.”

_I don’t like this…_

Still, there was nothing she could do, it wasn’t like she could force him to wait. All she could do was sound the alarm and hope that nothing happened between now and when the team would get to him.

“Listen up everyone, we have a Spotfire down in v6 valley, currently small, slow rate of spread, Blade is already there and engaging.”

She paused for a moment to look up the fire’s position on a weather report card.

“The winds are about to pick up quite a bit so you better hurry.”

“Copy that Patch.”

She watched from her tower as everybody stormed out of their hangars, grabbing oil, hurrying to their stations for Maru to load them up and hastily gulping down their fuel in the short amount of time it took for their tanks to fill. Not even five minutes later the team was in the air, heading into the direction of the thin smoke column that could be seen in the far distance. Patch’s bad feeling intensified. If the fire was really as small as Blade had said they shouldn’t be able to see the smoke from up here. _Something’s off…_

“Blade, this is Patch. Do you read me?”

No answer.

“Blade?”

Silence.

“Okay this isn’t funny! Answer me this very instant if you can hear me at all.”

She anxiously waited for a reply, nearly sagging in relief when her horn finally crackled to life, only to feel like a bucket of ice-cold water had been emptied over her.

“Here….. -lp. Not sure for ho-……….. be able to keep up the connection……… interfering with my ra-…………”

His words were laced with static, something clearly wrong with his radio and Patch slowly felt herself beginning to lowkey panic.

“Blade, where are you?”

“Crash……. down in the fire…… drop.”

_Fuck._

Instincts kicked in as she tried to remember the proper protocol for these kinds of situations and utterly failed at remembering what the hell she was supposed to do. So she did the only thing she could think of and radioed Tamati.

“Chief, I think Blade is down.”

“What?!”

“There’s interference with his radio so I’m not sure but he mentioned a crash and something about a drop. So either he’s trying to save someone or he really needs your help.”

“On it, thanks for telling me. Guys, get a move on!”

Patch tried to reach Blade again to see if maybe she could do something, anything, but she got nothing but static from his frequency. After five minutes of trying she gave up and opted for listening in on the radio chatter of the rest of the team in the hopes of finding out what was happening.

“Alair, Tobulouse, cool him down. Dipper, take the left flank, split load. Windlifter, get Blade, we’ll cover you. Hotshots, see if you can keep it from spreading.”

A wave of confirmations flowed through the connection before it fell silent, everybody presumably carrying out the tasks given to them. The silence was worse than everything. It meant that she had no way of knowing what was going on and wasn’t allowed to ask directly. _Damn it, this is killing me. Idiot! Why in the seven skies didn’t you just wait for them?!_ She could see Maru in his garage fretting over the radio as well while preparing any spare parts he had on hand, worry clearly visible even from up in the tower.

“I got the straps on, I’ll need you to clear me a path.”

“Copy that, I’m on it.”

“Patch, I’m coming in with Blade. ETA in three minutes. Can you get Maru into the connection?”

“Already listening! What’s he look like?”

There was almost a hint of fear in the mechanics voice. It forced Patch back into suppressing her panic. She was distant from this, just a viewer, not a participant. All of this was quite literally happening to somebody else and they needed her calm right now. Because she was the only one who could be.

“Amount of injuries?”

She both dreaded the answer to the question that Maru should be asking and couldn’t wait to finally find out. Windlifter’s voice sounded strange compared to his usual monotone calm.

“On the outside, a couple of burns, some more severe than others, shattered windows and a few nasty looking cuts. Don’t know about the state of his hydraulics but he’s conscious and responsive.”

Patch felt a wave of relief roll over her. The injuries were far from minor but at the same time, they could be so much worse. If Blade was conscious that meant it was almost definitely fixable. And if only a fraction of what she’d heard about Maru’s skills was true than Blade would be okay. _I hope…_

The radio crackled to live again as Tamati directed Tobulouse to attack the right flank, effectively reminding Patch that it wasn’t over yet. She forced her eyes away from the helicopter that was getting closer with the slightly mangled form of their second in command beneath him and focused on her job. It was only when the door to the tower opened to reveal Finx standing there that she realized that he had been missing this whole time. For a short moment she felt a small wave of anger at the other forklift for just leaving her alone like that but before she could express her disdain the forklift had already pulled her into a hug.

“See, I told you you could do it on your own. Look at how well you managed! Bravo.”

_Seriously?!_

She gave Finx a deadpan look that quickly morphed into a glare as the communications officer started laughing.

“Alright, I get it, you’re mad. Sorry for not being there. But in the beginning it sounded like a routine thing and my fiancée is kinda here to pick me up, so I thought you’d be okay without me. And when things went wrong I thought that since you hadn’t asked for me up to then, maybe you wouldn’t notice that I wasn’t there until after and then you’d see you’ll be okay on your own. At least that’s what I hoped you’d get out of this, seeing how today is my last day and from tomorrow on you’ll kind of have to be okay on your own anyway.”

That did nothing to ease her glare as she shook her head inwardly._ Still would have been nice to have someone there._ Finx was right with one thing though: She no longer had a reason to be afraid she’d mess up when he was gone. _Still, I could have learned that a much nicer way!_

“Come on, don’t be mad. You can hate me all you want tomorrow but I’ve kind of gotten to like you during the last weeks and it would be a shame to have my last day here with you pouting.”

At that, she involuntarily had to laugh.

“Great. Now I’m mad at you for making it impossible stay mad at you…”

Finx grinned, wiggling his eyebrows in a provocative manner and obviously trying to get her to actually forget her small grudge.

“Well, Finx, if you’re so eager on letting me do this on my own, why don’t you leave me to it and go cuddle up to your fiancée? I still have a job to do you know.”

At that, Finx actually looked a little taken aback before a broad smile spread on his lips as he settled down next to her.

“Nah, I think I’ll stay a little. Me and her will have a whole life together but after today I’ll be gone from this place and you’ll have it all to yourself for the rest of your time here. Unless you get a trainee of course but apart from that you’ll have enough time to figure out how to manage this job on your own. I think that warrants one last day with a friend looming over your shoulder, hm? Besides. After today I’ll never be up here again. Guess it’s a little late for that, given the current circumstances and all but I want to leave here with some nice last memories. So, bear my company.”

Patch smiled, grudge already forgotten as she made room in front of the console to allow Finx to watch over the monitors as well. Besides, he had a point.

_From tomorrow on, I’ll officially be Piston Peak’s communications officer._

It was the first time that the thought filled her with excitement and happiness without any traces of dread. She was actually looking forward to it, couldn’t wait even. She was going to miss having Finx beside her but at the same time, this meant that she was finally a full-fledged member of the rescue force. The thought felt right like little else ever had. A large smile spread on her face as she nodded at Finx and settled down in a more comfortable position.

_Guess I’m finally ready._


End file.
